Hollow
by pale rose fire
Summary: Set during the PSP game at the mountain training camp, where Riko's training regiment requires Kuroko to eat twice as much as he's capable of. With his hawk's eye, Takao is the only one to notice when Kuroko begins developing a serious problem. But since he barely knows Kuroko, he turns to Kuroko's old friends for help.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroko no Basuke

Rated T for language and heavy issues (eating disorders)

Set during the PSP game, at the mountain training camp, where Riko's training regiment requires Kuroko to eat more than twice as much as he's really capable of. And the basketball teams containing Kise, Midorima, and Aomine are all conveniently gathered as well.

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Sometimes Takao wondered why people just couldn't see what was right in front of them. It seemed some days to him like everyone in the whole world was blind. And stupid. And coming from him, that was saying something. Because he was well aware that he wasn't the brightest crayon in the box. He had a gift for noticing more things than most people did, but some things were so painfully obvious that anyone who failed to see them deserved to be smacked.

Example: Seirin's coach's eating regiment for her players. For some it was all fine and dandy, like that monster Kagami, who Takao had once observed ordering twenty hamburgers from Maji Burger when he happened to be walking by and glanced in the window. Guys with a build that big did need to pack on the calories. But to require someone like skinny little Kuroko to gorge himself on two heaping bowls of rice every meal, in addition to the main dishes and the side dishes she was requiring him to eat was just dumb.

Maybe it was that Coach Riko wasn't smart enough to remember exactly how small Kuroko was, and didn't notice him enough to have his actual size reaffirmed in her mind. Takao didn't think that was a good justification, but it was the only excuse he could come up with for her, but he couldn't make any excuses for the results of her carelessness and didn't even want to.

He was the only one who noticed Kuroko start disappearing for about five minutes midway through each meal. No one else at his table, whether he sat with his team, or the other Generation of Miracles players, noticed there was an empty chair where he was supposed to be for several minutes every meal. Then when Kuroko came back, no one noticed he'd even been gone. Takao made it a point to track the shadow's comings and goings. It was good practice for the next time they faced off. He also noticed that whenever Kuroko came back, the smallest player managed to finish whatever food was left on his plate.

The first few days he didn't think much of it. Then he noticed something new about Kuroko: how white and shiny his teeth were all of a sudden. Not that there'd been anything wrong with his teeth before. They weren't coffee stained or full of food bits or anything before. But now they'd started looking like they'd been polished with vinegar on a daily basis. Vinegar . . . or some stronger acid.

The thought was disturbing enough to make Takao follow Kuroko out of the dining hall that day at lunch. Shadowing a shadow was an interesting experience. It would have even been fun if his hunch turned out to be wrong. But in his heart, he knew all along that he wasn't wrong. His heart still sank when Kuroko went into the bathroom. Takao waited twenty seconds before he entered. When the door opened he heard the sound of someone being sick. Then the door creaked and the noise abruptly stopped.

To keep from sounding suspicious, Takao washed his hands. Then he left. After the door shut behind him, he cracked it back open again and heard the same sickening sounds.

"Shit," he muttered. On his way back, he tried to think about what to do about this. He knew this was a serious thing. Deadly serious. He couldn't afford to do a half-assed job of fixing it or things would only get worse.

As he analyzed the situation, he realized he had a few things on his side. One: this was a new development most likely. Kuroko's teeth definitely hadn't had that acid washed look to them when Takao had seen him before, since he'd noticed the change. Hopefully it was too soon to have become a habit, or a full fledged eating disorder. If he could nip this in the bud then Kuroko might come through with no negative effects, physical or psychological.

Two: this couldn't have happened in a better place. Takao doubted there was a place in the world that had as big a gathering of people who cared about Kuroko as this training camp. Kuroko's team was in fact a team. If one went down, they all dragged him back up. Kagami even clearly cared about the kid on a personal level. Then there were the three Generation of Miracles prodigies. Yeah, most of them came across as cold, unfeeling dicks the majority of the time, but Takao saw what others didn't. Flashes of concern in their gazes, a tensing of their jaw muscles or a clenching of their hands when they had reason to suspect something was wrong with one of the others, or someone else they'd grown attached to. With the exception of Kise who openly adored Kuroko.

Takao was uncharacteristically quiet that afternoon as he mulled over how to fix this. He wasn't stupid enough to think he could do it on his own, since he barely knew Kuroko. And he knew that telling anyone who would make a spectacle of it was a very bad idea. Shining a light on someone who spent his life in shadows just to call him out and humiliate him in front of his team and friends would hurt him worse than any physical injury and probably make the problem worse. So that ruled out telling most people, including his coach, Kagami, heck, his whole team. Takao didn't trust the intelligence of a team that let this happen.

Which left the Generation of Miracles.

Takao's thoughts turned first to Kise, and he considered this carefully. Kise was the only one other than that weird pink haired girl who openly expressed affection for Kuroko. Takao knew Kise's affection was even genuine. The golden haired player treated Kuroko like a cross between the little brother he always wanted, and a favorite pet. But was he the best one to fix the situation?

Somehow Takao didn't think so. Kuroko didn't seem to take Kise all that seriously. Probably because of how frivolous and dramatic Kise had a tendency to act. Takao thought that Kise would probably get serious and pull his stuff together if he realized how serious of a problem Kuroko was developing, but Takao didn't want to leave it to chance. He needed someone he knew he could count on.

Which seemed to make Midorima the obvious choice. His friend was very dependable, leaving as little as possible to chance, taking every precaution to get fate on his side, up to and including capturing live frogs and keeping them on the team bench when he didn't have a plushie frog handy to be his lucky item. But for all that, Midorima was lacking when it came to connecting with people. Like that day awhile back when he had missed hearing what his lucky item was on a day that Asa Oha predicted terrible luck for him. He had gotten flustered when Takao decided to stick with him because he was worried about how horribly his luck had turned, so Takao had fallen back on teasing him and saying he was tagging along for his own amusement. And he hadn't known how to feel when he realized that the other players on his team had gone to such lengths to try and find what could be his lucky item for him.

Yeah, giving him a situation like this, was probably a bad idea. Takao didn't know how he'd react to finding out that one of his former teammates, who he denied was his friend though he couldn't fool Takao's hawk eye, was on the verge of developing a habit that would kill him.

Which left Aomine. Takao knew the least about him, to be honest, so normally that wouldn't be a good choice. But he had seen the tapes of the old games when the Generation of Miracles were at team. Most people wouldn't have noticed, because they wouldn't have noticed Kuroko, but there had been a definite bond between those two. Takao had taken note of every fist bump and every smile flashed between the two.

Takao's gut was telling him that Aomine was the best one to deal with this. Hell, maybe this was even what the moron needed to make him pull his head out of his butt and start acting like a decent human being again.

That decided, Takao just had to figure out the best way to get Aomine the necessary information. It didn't occur to him to approach the blue haired basketball freak and flat out ask for help. Takao didn't work that way. And there was no telling how Aomine would react to that. No, he needed to get him the information in a way that made it seem more conversational than like an appeal.

"So what do you think of that Kuroko kid puking his guts out after every meal because his coach makes him eat too much?"

That was probably not the best way to do it. Takao realized that in hindsight. Actually, he'd planned to go about it in a whole different way, but that just kind of slipped out in a nervous verbal twitch when he found himself face to face with the blue haired monster.

Those eyes which had previously seemed kind of dead snapped to alertness. _"What?"_

"Huh?" asked Takao. "You didn't know? But you sit with him half the time."

Aomine grabbed a handful of Takao's shirt and had him slammed against the wall. "What the fuck are you talking about you freaky eyed little . . ."

"Freaky eyed? That's kind of mean, isn't it?" Takao sighed.

"What are you saying about Kuroko? You're saying – What are you saying?" demanded Aomine.

"You really didn't know? I thought it was obvious. The kid leaves in the middle of every meal and goes to the bathroom to throw up everything he's eaten, because his coach is making him eat too much. I guess that's the problem with not having a real coach. But it is pretty funny. Hey, does no one else really know? Maybe I should let more people in on the joke- AOH!" Takao doubled over as Aomine sunk a fist into his stomach.

"You'll keep your mouth shut."

Takao couldn't answer and just coffed.

"I said you'll keep your mouth shut," Aomine growled in his face. "Or I will come back and knock out all your teeth."

Takao made a sound like he was alarmed but nodded. He breathed a sigh of relief when Aomine released him and walked away. More like stomped away. Not that it mattered as long as he left. Takao trembling, picked himself up off the floor and braced himself against the wall. Aomine packed a mean punch!

"You could have handled that better."

"Ahh! Shin-chan!" said Takao as Midorima stepped out from around the corner. "What are you doing here?"

"I assumed, from your uncharacteristic silence this afternoon, that you were planning something troublesome," Midorima said.

"Oh! You mean you were following me because you were worried about me? Shin-chan!"

"No, that's not it!" said Midorima angrily. "I just knew you were going to get in trouble and was making sure it wouldn't fall on my head."

"So you heard what I said?" Takao asked, sweat dropping.

"Yes."

"And . . ?"

"Next time figure out a way to fix things that won't get you senselessly hurt," said Midorima.

His voice was cool, almost surgically so, and he seemed just as detached as ever. But as he took his glasses off to clean them, Takao noticed a slight shake of his hands, and his hawk eyes clearly saw the gleam of sweat on Midorima's face, sure signs that what he'd just learned about Kuroko had distressed him.

"Shin-chan! You do care about me!" Takao cried out, to wipe those signs of distress away. Then he flung himself at Midorima in a hug.

"Hey! Get off me, Takao! Let go!"

Midorima doesn't say anything about Kuroko and his problem until Takao asks him later that night.

"Hey Shin-chan? Are you planning on doing anything?"

He didn't have to specify. Midorima knew what he was talking about. There's nothing else he could be talking about.

"Not immediately," answered Midorima. "I'll wait and see if Aomine can fix this first."

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please review!


	2. Chapter 2

thank you to AspergianStoryteller, Usagi323, GIRL OF PARADISE, Zhizn214, Alicegator, and mysticzephyra for your wonderful reviews!

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chapter 2

Despite Aomine's best intentions, Kuroko managed to slip away the next day at lunch.

He meant to try and deal with the problem at breakfast, but got there too late. Kuroko had already been there for some time, and barely had anything left on his plate or in his rice bowl. There was no way for Aomine to tell if he'd kept down everything he ate or not. Except, when he looked for that annoying hawk eyed guy, he saw disappointed reflected back at him in those steely blue eyes.

So at lunch, Aomine made sure to get there early. And he made sure that the Generation of Miracles players would all be sitting together, chasing anyone away from their table who looked like they might try and sit down.

Seirin arrived last, so by that time Midorima and Kise were already sitting down with Aomine. Kagami and Kuroko sat down in the two empty seats with no fuss. Kagami, as usual, had a sickening amount of food on his plate. Kuroko had a heaping serving, though nowhere near Kagami's. But now that Aomine was looking, he saw a sickened look on Kuroko's face as he regarded his lunch.

He also hadn't noticed before, but Kuroko seemed more subdued during meals now. He'd always been quiet, true, but he usually spoke at least once when he wasn't spoken to first, and periodically joined conversations if he had something to contribute. Now, Aomine realized, he was barely speaking at all, and his eyes had a bit of a morose look in them.

He didn't even notice when Kuroko slipped away, even though he'd been making it a point to keep an eye on his one time friend. He might not have noticed before Kuroko got back if Takao didn't plop himself down in Kuroko's empty chair and give them all a shit-eating grin.

"Wow, this table looks lively!" But even though he was smiling, there was something steely and accusatory in his gaze, directed at Aomine.

Damn it! Aomine thought to himself and immediately stood up.

"Aominecchi! Where are you going?"

"Toilet," he answered tersely and walked away. It wasn't a lie.

He hurried as quickly as he could while keeping his footsteps as quiet as he could, to the hallway bathroom and stormed right in. He opened the door so hard that it flew backwards and hit the wall, almost masking the sound of someone retching. Then abruptly, the sick noises stopped.

That had Aomine seeing red. He marched up to the only locked stall and pounded on the door. "Tetsu! Get out here _now!"_

"A-Aomine-kun?" Kuroko asked hoarsely. Confusion was evident in his voice.

"I said _get out here now_, or I will bust down that door!"

"C-coming." Kuroko coughed twice then opened the door.

Aomine immediately caught him by the front of his shirt, spun, and slammed him against the wall.

"Aomine-kun, that kind of hurts."

_"What the hell are you thinking you little moron!"_

"Huh?"

"Don't you huh me! Don't you dare play dumb! I know, Tetsu. I know! And you are a fucking idiot!"

Kuroko's apathetic mask slipped a little, and Aomine was surprised to see an annoyed expression cross the smaller teen's face. "I think you are misunderstanding, Aomine-kun. My stomach's just been a little bit off –"

"If you try to play this off as a stomach bug, I swear I will hit you," growled Aomine. "I know what you're doing."

Kuroko used both hands to try and pry off Aomine's fingers from his shirt. "It's nothing you need to concern yourself with it."

"Like hell I don't!"

"It has nothing to do with you, Aomine-kun."

"Like hell it doesn't!" Aomine screamed. He let go of Kuroko's shirt front and clamped his hands down on both the boy's thin shoulders instead. Then he tried to soften his tone. "Tetsu, you have a problem."

Kuroko shook his head. "I don't."

"You do. And . . . and as your friend, there's no way in hell I can just sit by and do nothing about this," said Aomine.

Surprise glinted through Kuroko's eyes, then his usual mask was back in place. "You don't have to worry about it, Aomine-kun. It's not a problem."

"It's not a problem, he says," muttered Aomine.

"It's not. I have it completely under control. I'm only doing this so I can finish the required portions for my meals," Kuroko said, and by God, he sounded _reasonable_. Aomine realized that he actually believed what he was saying.

"Next are you going to tell me that you can stop anytime you want?" Aomine demanded.

Kuroko looked confused. "I wasn't going to say that, but it is true. As soon as it's no longer necessary, I will stop."

Aomine punched the wall right beside Kuroko's face, so hard that he put a dent in it. Kuroko flinched ever so slightly, but looked more confused than alarmed.

"God, Tetsu! Do you not know? Do you really not have a freaking clue?"

"I'm not sure what I'm supposed to have a clue about."

Aomine's hands found their way back to Kuroko's shoulders again, of their own accord. "Do you not know what bulimia is?" he was surprised when he heard his voice actually crack.

"I know what it is," said Kuroko, "but I don't have it. You don't have to worry, Aomine-kun –"

"Idiot!" Aomine tightened his grip on Kuroko's shoulders. "That is exactly how almost every case of bulimia starts!"

"But –"

"No. For the love of God, listen to me, Tetsu," Aomine heard himself practically begging. "If you don't stop this, and stop it right now, it's going to get worse. You are going to lose control over it. Because everyone who starts down this path loses control over it. And then it's going to ruin your life, and your health, and more likely than not kill you, because your health isn't great to begin with, and because bulimia is a disease of the mind just as much as of the body. Haven't you studied it in school?"

Kuroko shook his head. Aomine thought that there was a little bit of fear in his expression now. Good. It meant he was listening.

He had to swallow a couple times before he could speak again. At first he thought that he was just so mad that he couldn't think straight, and that's why his body wasn't obeying him the way it usually did. Then he realized that wasn't the case. He was scared too. The idea that one of those horrible diseases that they went on and on about in health class, but that he'd thought could only affect stupid, weak-minded idiots, could actually be developing in someone who he liked, okay, fine, someone who he loved, was enough to make his mouth go dry and his head start spinning. For a moment he could see the pictures from his text book, of the emaciated bodies of eating disorder victims. His mind twisted his vision of Kuroko to make it a match to those pictures, and for a second, he saw Kuroko with hollowed cheeks and sunken eyes, teeth ruined, collarbone sticking out sharply, and every rib showing.

"Aomine-kun?" asked Kuroko, worry shading his voice.

"Come on. Let's get out of here. Let's go somewhere else," said Aomine. "We need to talk."

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please review!


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you to Calico Neko, kiseki tatsune1595, Shin-kai Syndrome, and the two guests who reviewed!

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Aomine and Kuroko sat silently for a long time. So long that lunch break definitely ended. Not that it mattered for Aomine who hadn't intended to do any practicing at all. Kuroko, on a normal day, might have gotten antsy at the idea of missing practice, but he didn't say anything. Aomine couldn't tell if he was bothered by the idea or not. There was a definite troubled look in Kuroko's eyes, but the small shadow was so hard to read. Aomine didn't know if he was upset about missing practice, or about finding out that he'd been doing something that could lead to his death without a second thought.

Aomine finally broke the silence. Obviously it would be him, and not Kuroko.

"Athletes are the ones who lose control fastest." He had thought that was stupid when he first heard it, but now it made a strange sort of sense. Athletes pushed themselves to their own physical extremes. It was how they got stronger. One more push up. Just one more lap. Stretch just one more inch. Just one more set of reps. For better or worse it was a mind set that they got into. Aomine thought that most of the time it was for the better, but he could definitely see how there were times it could be for the worse.

"People think they have it under control, and that they'll only be doing it for a little while. But it's a disease of the mind as well as the body. Once you start it's hard to stop, and after you lose control everything goes to hell really fast," continued Aomine. It surprised him how well he could recall those facts from his health class now. Somehow they'd all come back to him after he learned Kuroko might be developing bulimia. "The acid from your stomach ruins your esophagus and your teeth. Your throat will feel like it's burning all the time. You could even burn a hole in it. You'll be dehydrated all the time, and your blood work will get fucked to hell and back. There won't be enough oxygen or potassium in your blood. You could have a fucking heart attack. Do you think any of those jokers you call teammates would have a fucking clue what to do if you went into cardiac arrest in the middle of practice?"

"Please leave them out of this," Kuroko requested.

"Why should I? Those idiots should of caught this!"

"They didn't know because I didn't want them to know. When I don't want someone to know something, they usually don't." Kuroko looked at Aomine with some confusion. "How did you find out?"

"Someone told me, but it doesn't matter."

"Who?" Kuroko wanted to know.

"Why do you care?" asked Aomine.

"Why do you?"

That stung. Aomine actually flinched. But he had to admit, even if it was only to himself, the question was fair. He really hadn't been much of a friend to Kuroko or to anyone, in over a year. Guilt pulled at his stomach when he realized that he could be partway to blame for this.

"I care because you're my friend you stupid midget!" said Aomine angrily. "I might be a piss poor excuse for a friend most days, true, but if you're . . . if I find out that something is . . . damn it, Tetsu! Do you really think I'd just sit back and let you kill yourself!"

Kuroko looked down. "I didn't know, Aomine-kun. I had no idea that what I was doing was so dangerous . . . I'm sorry. I've caused you worry and trouble."

"You should be sorry for doing something so stupid and dangerous, not for causing me trouble, stupid!" If it was anyone else, Aomine probably would have punched them by now. But if he punched Kuroko, there was a definite possibility that the little boy might break. "I can't believe you of all people would do something so ridiculous!"

"I already said, I did not know!" Now Kuroko raised his voice and when Aomine looked down at him, he saw frustrated tears glittering in his eyes.

It made Aomine feel like he'd just kicked a kitten.

"I know you didn't know. I know you wouldn't do something that stupid knowing how stupid it was. You might do weird things sometimes, but you're not . . . I know you wouldn't do something like that deliberately." Aomine sighed and rested a hand on top of Kuroko's head.

Kuroko, to Aomine's surprise, actually leaned into his touch. Only slightly, but definitely enough to notice.

That made Aomine feel even worse. How starved was the little shadow for affection that he was accepting it so readily from a friend as horrible as Aomine?

"Thank you, Aomine-kun," said Kuroko suddenly. "If you hadn't let me know that what I was doing . . . if you hadn't told me how serious a problem it would become . . ."

Then by the time anyone realized what was happening, it would have been too late. In his mind's eye Aomine saw another vision of Kuroko's emaciated body. It made him feel sick just thinking about it.

"You know," said Aomine, speaking low but carefully, "we don't know that it hasn't already become a problem, Tetsu."

Kuroko blinked at him. "I said I wouldn't do it again. Now that I know."

"But like I told you, it's a disease of the mind. You might not be able to help it," Aomine pointed out.

Kuroko stared at him with hurt in his eyes.

"It's not that I don't trust you. It's just that this is too serious for me not to make sure it's resolved."

"I don't want to trouble you further."

Then you should have thought about that before you started puking your guts out after every meal! Aomine almost shouted but he knew that would just make things worse. And it wasn't fair to Kuroko. He really hadn't known.

"I'll answer your question from earlier," Aomine said instead. "You asked why I care. The answer is because I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you."

For an instant, he thought he'd said too much. He thought he'd been too hypocritical and gushy, because Kuroko darted out from under his hand and seemed to disappear from Aomine's sight. Then he felt a small body crash into his and realized with shock that Kuroko was hugging him. The shadow was so small that his arms circled just around Aomine's waist, and his face was buried in Aomine's stomach, below his rib cage.

Aomine froze in shock for a second, then lowered his arms so they were behind Kuroko's back, returning the hug.

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Hopefully Aomine's not too ooc. sorry if he is. It's kinda hard for me writing his character in that kind of situation and not knowing if I've hit or miss. Fic's not over yet, btw. They may have caught the problem in time to stop it from a downward spiral, but they haven't removed the root of the problem yet. There will be at least two more chapters. Midorima is demanding that he be allowed to help (but not because he cares or anything) so I think I'll let him (the tsundere)

I need to update my Free fic next, but I'll get back to this soon. In the meantime, please review!


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you to TsumetaiYuuki, Dareagon, MilkCoffee, kiseki tatsune1595, Calico Neko, Fumus000, and the Guest who reviewed!

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At dinner that evening, Aomine made sure to sit by Kuroko. Yet again, the amount on Kuroko's plate was staggering for someone his size. Looking at the volume of it, then mentally comparing it to what he estimated Kuroko's small stomach must be capable of holding at one time, Aomine felt a little bit ashamed of himself for having criticized Kuroko for eating so little earlier during the camp. Now, to give Kuroko a hand, and to eliminate the reason that Kuroko had felt the need to throw up during every meal, Aomine helped himself to food right off Kuroko's plate.

"Oi! What do you think you're doing?" demanded Kagami when he saw Aomine lift a piece of chicken off Kuroko's plate with his chopsticks.

"What does it look like I'm doing, idiot?" asked Aomine.

"Stop stealing Kuroko's food and get your own!"

"I don't mind," Kuroko said immediately. "It's more than I can eat anyway."

"You're an athlete! You need to eat a lot so you can actually gain some weight and muscles!" said Kagami angrily.

"It's not good just to help yourself off Kurokocchi's plate, Aominecchi," Kise said disapprovingly. "That's what Haizaki always used to do, remember?"

"This is nothing like that!" shouted Aomine.

"I agree with Aomine," said Midorima, pushing his glasses back up on the bridge of his nose. "Haizaki stole food from the small sized portions that Kuroko packed after taking in account how much nourishment he would need for the day. The portion sizes that his coach demands Kuroko eat, however, are ridiculous. Aomine is merely making sure that what Kuroko cannot finish does not go to waste."

"Hmmm. That's true," admitted Kise. "Well, if Kurokocchi's fine with it, so am I. Honestly, I was a little worried, seeing how green Kurokocchi's been looking at the end of every meal."

"I'm sorry to have worried anyone," Kuroko said in a low voice.

"Don't apologize to those idiots," said Kagami. "And don't follow their orders over Coach's unless you want your training menu tripled."

"If your coach has a problem, she can come over here and say it to my face," said Aomine. And if Riko actually did that, there were a few things he had to say to her, and none of them were very nice.

"Let's try to avoid unnecessary inter-school arguments, children," said Midorima. "One of those could get nasty. Especially for Seirin's coach, if her leadership abilities were called into question and formally inquired about."

"The hell!" Understandably, Kagami was livid. "Are you threatening our coach?"

"I simply stated a fact. It's unusual enough as it is to have the coach of a high school boy's basketball team be a teenage girl. She cannot afford to risk her status getting involved in the mudslinging contests between her players and those of rival schools. If she were to, and someone were to file a complaint, it would be taken ten times more seriously than any filed against even the shadiest of adults. Then, all her past mistakes would be dredged up if there were an investigation, and her maturity and ability to do her job as coach would all be called into question. If fate does not favor her, your team would be left without a coach. It would be unfortunate for your basketball careers to end here," said Midorima.

Aomine glanced sideways at Midorima, impressed with that little spiel. He wondered if Midorima knew about Kuroko's problem. If he remembered right, Midorima had made some disparching comments earlier in the week about Kuroko's small appetite. Aomine didn't think he'd change his mind about that without a good reason, and it seemed like Midorima was going all out, backing him up in the fight.

And Kagami was turning as red as his hair. Aomine only noticed when Kise pulled his phone out and started taking pictures.

"Let's not fight," said Kuroko. "I don't mind sharing my dinner with Aomine, since I have far too much."

"No, no, let's fight," said Takao, pulling up a chair. "I think me and Shin-chan could take you and Kagami in a fight. But maybe not Aomine and Kise. The copycat's probably got mad martial arts skillz in his arsenal. I know I would if I was a mimic."

"I do!" Kise said, brightening like a flower in the sun. The conversation then turned into one of cheesy martial arts movies, and the matter of Aomine eating part of Kuroko's dinner for him was forgotten.

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After dinner, Midorima sought Aomine out in the room Touo's players were sharing. A hostile-looking blonde answered the door when he knocked, then scowled even further when Midorima told him who he was after.

"Hey, Aomine. Someone's here for you."

Aomine looked up from his raunchy magazine, saw it was Midorima, then put it down with a sigh that seemed fake to Midorima. He sauntered out of the room then nodded down the hall, indicating that he and Midorima should put some space between their conversation and Touo's room. Midorima had to agree. The last thing they needed was those Touo idiots spying on them because of some well deserved grudge they were holding against Ahomine, then spreading around the very serious problem that Kuroko was facing.

"So? What did you want?" Aomine asked once they were outside, and were certain no one was around.

"What did you determine about Kuroko's condition?" Midorima asked, seeing no need to mince words. He had resolved to let Aomine handle it, but after a full day of worrying about it, he realized that he couldn't just do nothing. He might be able to remain in the background, but if he didn't try to do something to help, even just behind the scenes, he doubted he'd be able to forgive himself.

Aomine's eyes narrowed. "So you knew?" His tone was dangerous. Midorima could guess why. Aomine thought that either Takao was spreading the story . . . or worse, that Midorima had already known but hadn't done anything to try to help Kuroko.

"I learned about it when you did. I did not know about it before overhearing Takao inform you."

"That freaky eyed teammate of yours isn't spreading this around then?"

"Hmph. Takao may play the fool, but at the root, he's far from one. More than that, he's a better man than you or I. His intention was to help Kuroko all along."

"He had a funny way of phrasing it then."

"Really? What would you have done if he'd come up and outlined the problem for you, then asked for help?"

Aomine scowled. "I wouldn't have punched him. Probably."

"But would you have taken him seriously if he hadn't driven you into enragement?"

Aomine's scowl deepened, but he admitted, "Maybe not."

"Hmph."

"So he wasn't just trying to get a laugh, or some shit like that? Then why didn't he try to help Kuroko himself?" Aomine asked.

"Fool. He is helping Kuroko himself, by recruiting you and me." Ahomine didn't need to know that Takao had originally only planned to recruit Aomine. "If you had a serious problem, like Kuroko's, who do you think would be best suited to helping you? A rival player you've met on only a few occasions and barely know, or your former friends –"

"We never stopped being friends," barked Aomine.

"Former teammates then," amended Midorima.

"Alright, I see your point," Aomine admitted.

"Hmph. And I thought we'd spend another five minutes going over that point before you understood."

"Hey!"

"How about you now tell me what you determined about Kuroko's condition," said Midorima. "How bad is he?"

Aomine took several seconds to gather his thoughts. Midorima felt his apprehension growing all the while. Then, finally, Aomine answered.

"I think he's going to be okay."

Midorima released the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. But he had to ask, "On what do you base that hypothesis?"

"It hasn't been going on long. When I asked, he said he'd only been doing it for about a week," Aomine said.

"And you believe him?"

"Yes."

"I'll trust your judgment on that then. And he has agreed to stop?" asked Midorima?

"He agreed immediately. The stupid fool didn't realize how serious what he was doing was," Aomine said. "His health class hasn't covered eating disorders yet, so he didn't know what he was doing to his body, or that bulimia's like an addiction in some ways."

"That doesn't make him immune to the disease's effects-"

"I know that! You think I'm just going to let it end here and forget about it? I'm keeping an eye on him from now on!"

Midorima pushed his glasses up. "I didn't mean to imply you weren't properly taking care of the situation. I was merely making sure that tabs are being kept on Kuroko, until we're positive the situation has been resolved."

"Well I am!" Aomine shouted. "Look, I know I've been a dick about a lot of things, but if you think for a second that I would ever stand by and let my friend destroy himself, I'll hit you. I'll break your glasses and your lucky item. I'll –"

"Enough with the bluster. You've made your point," Midorima said coolly. He pushed his glasses up again. "Besides, it's not like I care what happens to him. I was merely trying to be a responsible adult."

He expected Aomine to get a little bit annoyed or outright mad at this declaration. Instead he was met with dead silence for a good five seconds. Then Aomine snorted.

"Fucking tsundere."

"I am not –"

"You totally are a tsundere, Shin-chan!"

"Takao! When did you get here?" Midorima demanded.

"Eh? I've been here all along," Takao sing songed, grinning wildly.

"He's lying. He just came up behind you just now," Aomine said.

"Killjoy," said Takao.

"You're annoying. Stop copying Kuroko. One of him's bad enough," Midorima said.

"Mah, you know you love us," Takao said, fanning himself. "Anywayz, I came to get you 'cause it's our turn to use the hot springs. Come, come! It's time for a bath!"

"Go on ahead," Midorima ordered. "I'll catch up."

"Right. I'm counting on you," Takao said, but Midorima noticed that his gaze was on both him and Aomine when he spoke and gave them a thumbs up. Apparently now that his scheme to get help for Kuroko had worked, he wasn't so worried about being subtle.

Midorima rolled his eyes then reached into his pocket and pulled out a sheet of paper which he handed to Aomine. "Here."

"The hell's this?"

"A backup plan," Midorima said. "The names of the best doctors and councilors for dealing with eating disorders in the Tokyo area. It is my sincerest hope that you will never need to look at that list. But since it's my nature to do all I can, to ensure the success of any endeavor I take up, I had to prepare it."

Midorima turned to go. Aomine's hand clamping down on his shoulder stopped him and he turned back around.

"Thank you, Midorima."

For an instant, Midorima had a sense of déjà vu. It was like he was looking at the Aomine from two years ago, before his eyes got all jaded. The feeling was odd and nostalgic, like seeing the face of an old friend after being so long without them.

Midorima pushed his glasses up again. As much as he wanted to dismiss this, or claim that he didn't care, he couldn't. So instead he simply said, "What are friends for?"

* * *

No Riko bashing is intended! I think the stuff she has the team do is hilarious. But from a realistic standpoint they could all get into a lot of trouble if some of the stuff she has them do went a different way. Midorima was just pointing that out.

Oh, and I have a new oneshot Kuroko fic called Burning Brightly. It's about how Kuroko unknowingly became a hero to all the basketball players who quit basketball after the Generation of Miracles crushed them in middle school. They find out what he's doing and why he's trying to beat the Generation of Miracles members and even though he thinks of himself as a shadow, he unknowingly becomes their light. So please check it out.

And also, please review!


	5. Chapter 5

Special thanks to TsumetaiYuuki, Shin-kai Syndrome, Fumus000, Calico Neko, and the Guest who reviewed!

I was planning on wrapping up this fic but I thought of a way to make it a little longer. So it's not over yet.

* * *

Things seemed to be alright for a couple days. Aomine helped Kuroko out by eating off his plate so that he didn't have such monstrous portions to finish, and Kuroko didn't make any suspicious trips to the bathroom during mealtimes. Things were actually better than alright. They were almost good.

Aomine barged in on Seirin's practices. He didn't trust them to keep a good enough eye on Kuroko considering what they'd let happen already. And he didn't know how long it took a borderline bulimic's blood work to go back to normal. If Kuroko was to collapse during practice, or God forbid have a heart attack, Aomine wanted to be on hand, as one of the few people who knew what was wrong with him.

He ended up almost having fun playing against both Kagami and Kiyoshi . . . with Kuroko on his side half the time. Riko was surprisingly tolerant about Aomine's intrusion. It was almost like the old days for awhile when he enjoyed basketball.

Kise was a pain at mealtimes after he found out that Aomine was going to Seirin's practices.

"That's not fair!" he whined. "I want to practice with Kurokocchi too! Why do you get to hog him all to yourself, Aominecchi?'

"Because I do what I want. That's why," answered Aomine.

"Kurokocchi! Let me join your practices too!"

Kise didn't stop whining until Kasamatsu came over and slammed his face down into his food, threatening to hit him if he even thought about skipping Kaijou's practice to attend Seirin's.

Touo's regulars weren't happy about what Aomine was doing, but what else was new? Momoi seemed delighted by it. Imayoshi and the coach just seemed glad that Aomine was practicing in some way.

But most importantly, Kuroko was looking good. After it had been called to his attention, Aomine when he first realized Kuroko was developing a problem, he realized that there were a few negative physical changes in his friend. His pallor had begun to look sickly. That was the biggest one. His face looked hollower too, and Kuroko had been too skinny to begin with. But he was definitely looking better now. Healthy again. That made Aomine feel relieved.

Then something happened that nearly gave Aomine a heart attack.

It was late at night and he was in Touo's room trying to sleep. Not easy in a room of stupid obnoxious guys. Someone was snoring, someone else was talking in their sleep, and someone else was playing Angry Birds on their phone with the sound on. Aomine had grown to hate that game over the course of the training camp. Every damn night he had to listen to those sound effects. And people wondered why he lazed off so much during the day and usually napped instead of practicing?

He had almost dozed off when someone dug their toe into his ribcage, hard.

"Oi!"

"Aomine. Hey, get up."

"Susa? What do you want?" growled Aomine.

"On the off chance that you care, that kid you hang around with is puking his guts out in the bathroom."

"What?" Aomine bolted out of his futon.

"Huh. So you do care?"

"You're talking about Tetsu?" demanded Aomine.

"Is Tetsu the invisible kid? Then yeah. I was just answering the call of nature and he what . . . hay! Where are you going? Well, I guess he does care."

Aomine was already out the door. Dark thoughts were going through his mind.

Damn it, damn it, fucking damn it! Why now? I thought he was getting better! Did something happen to make him lose control? Or has he been doing this every night? Fuck it all! Thought Aomine as he ran full speed to the bathrooms.

He barged in and looked around for his shadow. Well his former shadow. His mouth was open to start screaming but then he laid eyes on Kuroko.

The kid looked like hell. He was slumped on the bathroom floor, sweating and shaking. And to Aomine's surprise, Kagami was beside him, a hand on his shoulder.

Kagami looked up sharply and scowled. "What do you want, Ahomine?"

"Fuck you Bakagami. Tetsu, what . . ."

"It's not what you think," croaked Kuroko his eyes suddenly frantic. "I swear it's not."

"What's not what he thinks?" demanded Kagami. "Oh. Oh, you freaking moron. If you think there's something going on between Kuroko and I you are one sick –"

"I think I have the flu," said Kuroko

The flu.

Looking at him, Aomine could believe it. He didn't look like he had the other day when Aomine caught him throwing up. He looked feverish and really sick, like he'd come down with something for real. There was sweat on his forehead, and soaking his hair so his usual bedhead wasn't as bad as normal.

Aomine came forward and knelt down and put a hand on Kuroko's forehead. He frowned as he realized that his friend was burning up. But a larger part of him was so relieved.

Just a bug. Not bulimia.

Thank God, Aomine thought. He ruffled Kuroko's hair in what he hoped was a comforting way then patted him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry me for nothing," he said gruffly.

"Oh, we're so sorry that Kuroko puking his guts out is troubling to you," said Kagami angrily. 'Why are you even here?"

"Susa told me Tetsu was in trouble, so I came. End of story," said Aomine.

"Since when do you care what happens to Kuroko?"

"Stop it, please," whispered Kuroko. He sounded exhausted. He was even too tired to raise his head and look at them.

"Sorry, Kuroko. You think you're done now?"

"I think so. I don't think there's anything else in my stomach to throw up."

Kagami looked back and forth between Kuroko and Aomine then sighed. "To be on the safe side we should probably get you a bucket or cup or something. If you're alright on your own here for a minute or two, I'll check with the motel staff and see if I can rummage one up."

"Alone here? Screw you, Kagami," said Aomine. "I'll take him back to Seirin's room. You find the bucket or whatever."

"Whatever makes you feel useful," retorted Kagami.

"Hey!"

Kuroko groaned and closed his eyes, and leaned against the wall.

"Alright," Aomine sighed. "I'll stop. For you, Tetsu."

He gave Kagami a final glare then lifted Kuroko in his arms. It was like carrying a child. Kuroko was either unconscious or only semi-conscious because he didn't raise a fuss or even complain about being carried bridal style.

On the way to Seirin's room he ran into their coach and captain.

"Eh?" both said at the same time, staring at Aomine in surprise.

"What?" demanded Aomine.

"We left Kuroko in Kagami's care," said Riko.

"He's getting a bucket or something in case Tetsu throws up again," said Aomine. "You're in my way."

"Uh, we've actually, I mean I just spoke with the inn's owner," said Riko. "We arranged to get another room for Kuroko. A small one. It's better if he's not with the rest of the team right now. We don't want this spreading to the rest of the team, and he'll be more comfortable if he's not surrounded by so many people."

"What the hell, woman? You're planning on leaving him alone?"

"Watch your mouth, freshman," Hyuga growled. "Who do you think you're talking to? One of your old teammates?"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like, brat," said Hyuga, a scary look in his eyes. "Seirin is nothing like your old team. We don't abandon our friends."

"Hyuga, that's too far, and it's not clutch time!" said Riko, slapping him on the shoulder. "And Aomine-kun, Hyuga will be staying with Kuroko through the night, and I will be drawing up a schedule tomorrow to make sure that he's never left alone. We don't intend to take any risks with Kuroko's wellbeing."

A little late for that, Aomine wanted to growl at her but held back. She didn't know what her carelessness had almost led to. And Kuroko would be horrified if he revealed it just to be cruel to his coach.

"Captain Blood there can stay with his team tonight," said Aomine. "I'll stay with Tetsu tonight."

Riko looked doubtful. "You have your obligations to your own team. You need your sleep for your practice tomorrow."

"I slept all afternoon. And I'll just skip practice tomorrow. It's not a big deal."

"Look at Mr. Responsibility here. Let's sign over custody of our secret weapon to him immediately," said Hyuga.

"You saying you don't trust me with Tetsu?" demanded Aomine.

"That's exactly what I'm saying!"

"Hyuga –"

"Don't act like this is surprising news, Aomine," said a new voice. They all turned and saw Midorima standing there in pajama pants and an old well worn basketball shirt that he probably slept in. "You're hardly a poster child for responsible behavior and you know it."

"What are you doing here, Midorima?"

"You're having your argument right outside my team's room. You woke us all up," said Midorima. "Would you be so kind as to take your petty squabbles elsewhere?"

"The hell with you."

"Though I should warn you, Coach Aida, this one is stubborn beyond anyone's expectations," said Midorima. "Once he gets an idea into his head, you won't be able to talk him out of it. And since he seems to have decided that he will be tending to Kuroko, it would be easiest for you just to give in."

"Old friend of Kuroko or not, I don't feel comfortable just trusting Kuroko to his care," said Riko. "Largely because I don't know him, but what I do know is that he has a tendency to disappear when he's needed."

"Why you –" started Aomine.

"Then may I propose a compromise," said Midorima. "I too will stay the night with Kuroko. Between Aomine and myself, you should have some degree of certainty that Kuroko will never be left unattended."

Riko and Hyuga exchanged looks again.

"If you have doubts about my reliability, you may ask my coach to clear you of them," said Midorima. "If I undertake a task, I see it through."

"You understand why we're wary of Kuroko's old teammates suddenly taking such an interest in his wellbeing," said Riko. "Especially since you never did before. And from all appearances none of the rest of you Generation of Miracles even like him, except Kise, and we have to be wary of him for entirely different reasons . . . like trying to steal Kuroko away to Kaijou. But that's another story."

"Your worries aren't entirely justified, but they do credit to your position as coach," said Midorima pushing up his glasses. "However, even though we have not always gotten along, we did spend a considerable amount of time around each other. We -"

"Shin-chan's trying to say that there's still bonds of friendship between them and that deep down he loves Kuroko like the little brother he never had," said Takao from right inside Shutoku's room.

"Shut up Takao!"

"Then you speak up and spit it out already. How long do you really wanna dance around the topic?" demanded Takao. He heaved a dramatic sigh. "You've done this for Kuroko before, no? Back in middle school there were surely times when he overworked himself and got sick, yeah? So pragmatically, these two have the most experience at the care and keeping of a sick Kuroko. So what's your objection, Seirin?"

Riko and Hyuga couldn't seem to find any comebacks to that.

"I . . . well . . . are you really committing to this?" asked Riko. "If you say you'll watch him and then ditch him, I will hunt you down."

"I am committing to this," said Midorima. "I will undertake watching Kuroko until breakfast tomorrow, with or without Aomine as backup. At that time, please send one of your players to relieve me."

"Back up? I'm not your back up. You're my back up," said Aomine.

"This is not the time for childish arguments.'

"I guess it's alright," said Riko finally. "If Midorima-kun is giving us his guarantee."

"Hey, I volunteered first you know," said Aomine angrily.

"We're setting our expectations low where you're concerned, freshman," growled Hyuga, getting into his face. And damn, the look he was giving Aomine could only be considered scary. "Give us a reason to think you're more than a jumped up little jerk with an inflated head and we might reconsider our opinion of you."

Aomine scowled at the blatant challenge but nodded. Objectively, he knew their suspicion was warranted. Hell, he'd have doubts about himself if he was looking at the situation from their eyes. He really hadn't been anything like a friend should to any of his old teammates, until he realized Kuroko's life could be in danger. But now he was changing that. It might be slow going, but he was determined to someday get back to where they were before. He just hoped he hadn't fucked things up so much that his old friends couldn't ever see him the way they used to again.

* * *

I have another new fic out called How Does It Feel? So please check it out!

It's about when someone realizes that the Generation of Miracles all have another common weakness other than being too powerful, and that weakness is Kuroko. A week after Winter Cup ends, Kuroko is found beaten and unconscious, hanging from a basketball hoop in Kaijou's gym, with the words HEY GENERATION OF MIRACLES. HOW DOES IT FEEL? carved into his chest and stomach. The GoM are determined to find who hurt him and make them pay, but along the way they're going to have to face their pasts and the mistakes they made in middle school, and realize for the first time just how much pain their actions caused others. Please check it out!

Also, please review!


	6. Chapter 6

Thank you to BlackAndWhiteRoseWolf, Fumus000, Calico Neko, and Guest-kcr for reviewing!

* * *

Aomine laid Kuroko down on the futon and pulled the blanket over his small body, burying him under the covers.

"Here. Put this on his forehead," said Midorima and handed over a wet wash cloth that had been folded into a compress.

Aomine obeyed, laying the cloth not just over Kuroko's forehead, but his eyes as well. He remembered that was how Kuroko preferred it when he wasn't feeling well. A lot of little things like that were starting to come back to him now. It was almost nostalgic.

"When he wakes up, we should try to get him to drink a little bit," said Midorima.

"Won't that just make him throw up again?" asked Aomine.

"It might, but it's an acceptable risk, even considering his prior condition," said Midorima. "Keeping him from getting dehydrated is crucial right now."

"But –"

"If he gets dehydrated, his fever will only get higher, and he'll need a hospital," said Midorima. "And any doctor whose not completely incompetent will recognize the same signs Takao did in Kuroko. If he does, then it becomes his job to make a big deal out of it. That would be far more damaging to Kuroko's mental state than anything else, and you know it."

Aomine glared but didn't argue. He hated it but Midorima was right.

"Sports drinks are better for him right now than water," said Midorima. He set one down beside Kuroko's pillow so it would be on hand when he woke up.

Then the door flew open and an angry Kagami stomped in.

"What's this? I leave you with him for a minute and you Generation of Miracles bastards think it's an invitation to kidnap my shadow?" demanded Kagami.

_"Your_ shadow?" Aomine challenged.

"Yes. _My_ shadow," growled Kagami. "Have you not noticed whose team he's playing on now?"

"He was my shadow first –"

"Both of you shut up," growled Midorima. "You're worse than children. And Takao. In fact, you're probably worse than Takao was as a child."

A slight groan from Kuroko drew everyone attention's to the patient. His hand twitched like he was trying to raise it to move the cloth from his eyes, but was stopped by the blanket.

"Oi, Kuroko," said Kagami immediately going to his friend.

"Kagami-kun. What . . . where?"

"Your coach got a separate room for you," said Midorima. "She wanted to quarantine your germs. Very practical of her."

"Midorima!" said Aomine angrily. There was no need to phrase it like that.

"Shut up, Aomine. You have no idea how swiftly summer sicknesses can spread, especially in a target rich environment like this one."

"Midorima-kun? Aomine-kun?"

"Hey. We're here too," said Aomine.

"Aomine insisted on spending the night with you. And someone had to babysit him," said Midorima.

"Hey!"

"Do you think you could keep down a little bit of water, Kuroko?" asked Midorima.

"N-no."

"We need you to try. Just a sip, alright?"

Midorima knelt beside Kuroko and gently helped him sit up.

"O-okay."

The cloth fell from Kuroko's forehead as he sat up. So he definitely saw that what Midorima handed him was a sports drink, not water, but he didn't say anything. Probably because it was because Pocari, one of his favorites.

He took a very small sip then made to put the bottle down, but Midorima caught his hand.

"One more sip."

"I can't," said Kuroko, looking ill at the thought. "I'll be sick again."

Midorima took the bottle from him. "Alright. We need you to try to sleep now, then. We'll try again when you wake up."

"Y-yes."

Midorima helped Kuroko lay back down. Aomine smirked at Kagami's dumbstruck expression.

"I thought none of you guys got along," said Kagami.

"Dumbass. Who told you that?" asked Aomine.

"No one. But every time I see you guys around each other, you're always acting like you hate each other. Except Kise. And he keeps trying to kidnap Kuroko, so I'd actually prefer it if he acted like he hated Kuroko."

"I wouldn't like that," spoke up Kuroko.

"No one in the Generation of Miracles hates any of the others," said Midorima. "We are the closest thing to friends any of us had back in middle school."

"What the hell?" asked Aomine. "We were friends!"

Midorima looked startled by this declaration. "What?"

Kuroko opened his eyes again. "I always considered Midorima-kun to be my friend."

"Did you really not think of us as your friends?" demanded Aomine. "Geez, you're dumb."

"I am not dumb! I just don't have friends," said Midorima.

"What else do you call five people who spend almost all their spare time with you and have your back no matter what?" Aomine asked.

"Teammates."

"We were both," Aomine growled.

"And now we're just friends," said Kuroko softly. "But that's fine. I hope we'll always be friends."

Aomine smirked at the color of Midorima's face. "Someone's blushing."

"Sh-shut up!"

"Aw. Midorima's embarrassed. It's kind of cute."

"Don't make me start throwing things at you."

"You Generation of Miracles really are whackos, the lot of you," said Kagami, pulling futons for them out of the cupboard where they were stored.

"Don't be jealous, Kagami-kun," said Kuroko. "You're my friend too."

"Oi! Don't go saying embarrassing stuff like that," said Kagami.

"Well, you're not my friend," said Aomine. "You're just annoying. Why are you getting out a futon for you? Shouldn't you be going back to Seirin's room?"

"Like I can just leave Kuroko alone with you psychos. The minute I leave, you'll probably be trying to steal him away again."

"Enough of this," said Midorima. "Kuroko, you should be resting."

"Sorry."

Midorima replaced the compress on Kuroko's forehead, covering his eyes just like Aomine had. He seemed to know Kuroko's preferences too, pretty well for someone who didn't consider himself his friend.

"We should get to sleep as well," said Midorima. "We're all tired. We need sleep so our immune systems won't be run down, and we don't contract Kuroko's illnesss. Kuroko probably got sick in the first place because his health was in a fragile state when he was exposed to those germs."

"Huh?" asked Kagami.

Idiot! Aomine wanted shout at Midorima.

"Oh! I mean . . . Kuroko's health is often . . . just shut up Kagami, I wasn't talking to you," said Midorima.

"No, what did you mean?" asked Kagami.

"Nothing that concerns you!"

"I think it does,' said Kagami. "He's my friend and teammate now. If there's something wrong with his health then I need to know!"

"You knowing wouldn't help anything, you buffoon, so drop it!"

"Kagami-kun," said Kuroko in a particularly pathetic sounding voice.

Kagami calmed slightly. "Kuroko? You going to tell me what Midorima was talking about?"

"I was feeling badly earlier this week. I . . . might have been on the verge of being sick then. That's why Aomine-kun has been keeping an eye on me this week. And it seems Midorima-kun as well."

"Oh? Is that all it was?" asked Kagami. Then he sighed. "If you're feeling badly, you got to let your team know, Kuroko. We're the ones who are supposed to support you. Until we know you well enough to pick up the signs, you've got to help us out, alright?"

"Alright. I'm . . . sorry. But I didn't know myself that . . . that I might be getting sick then."

"Alright," said Kagami. "I'm gonna turn off the light so you can get some sleep. We'll figure out how to fix things for the future when you're feeling better."

Aomine felt a bit of grudging respect for the hot-headed returnee. Maybe the idiot might be fit to be Kuroko's new light someday after all.

* * *

please review!


	7. Chapter 7

Thanks to: SadisticPrincess13, Fumus000, AspergianStoryteller, May Eve, BlackAndWhiteRoseWolf, xXxPhantomxXx, and Sakihinata for reviewing!

* * *

"Aomine, wake up. Aomine!"

"Ten more minutes," muttered Aomine, swatting at the hand that was shaking him.

"Wake up now. Kuroko needs to be taken to a hospital."

Aomine's eyes shot open. He sat up so fast he almost hit his head against Midorima's. "What?"

"His fever's reached a dangerous level. We can't tend to him here anymore. He needs professional help," said Midorima.

Aomine looked over and felt his heart sink at the sight of Kuroko, who was now as pale as a ghost, except for his flushed cheeks, with a very visible layer of sweat gleaming over his face and exposed arms. He agreed just from a glance that Kuroko probably needed a real doctor's help. But –

"At a hospital, they'll find out . . ."

"I know. But we have to take him, Aomine," said Midorima.

"Yeah . . . hey, where's Bakagami?"

"I sent him to get ice," said Midorima. "We'll use a compress of it to try to keep his head as cool as we can. That should make up for the time it will take for us to get back to Tokyo."

"Tokyo?"

"My father should be working tonight. If he's not, I can speak with one of his colleagues. I'll find someone I trust to help us keep Kuroko's condition from becoming public knowledge," said Midorima.

Aomine couldn't help but smile. "And you say we're not friends."

Midorima pushed up his glasses, embarrassed. "I may have misspoken."

The door opened and Kagami hurried in with a bucket of ice and some towels. "The cab's here, I think. I saw someone pull into the drive when I looked out a window. It shouldn't be anyone else this time of night. Or morning."

"Right. Aomine, please carry Kuroko to the cab. Kagami, give me those and go with them. I'll be along momentarily."

Aomine scooped up Kuroko and winced when his friend's bare skin came in contact with the bare skin of his arms. Kuroko was burning up. He couldn't believe he'd gotten this bad in just a few hours. Especially when he'd looked perfectly fine at dinner that night.

Kuroko gave a small, pitiful moan, like a kitten, as he slumped in Aomine's arms, his head resting against his shoulder. Aomine felt like wincing. Who knew that caring so much could physically hurt like a wound?

"Come on," Kagami said urgently when Aomine faltered because of that painful sound.

"Right." Aomine hurried through the open door.

In the hallway, on the way outside they ran into a familiar annoying blonde.

"Huh? What's going on, everyone? Eh! Kurokocchi!"

"He's sick. We're taking him to a hospital," Kagami said, shouldering him aside so Aomine could get by with Kuroko.

"Hey! I'm coming to!" Kise said.

"You have practice," Aomine reminded him.

"I don't want to hear that from you! I'm coming!"

"Alright! Just shut up! What were you doing awake anyway?"

"What do you think I was doing awake at this time? I was going to the bathroom. Should I go find Midorimacchi and tell him to come with us?"

"No, he already knows, and he's coming too," said Aomine. "He's making some ice compresses or something, but he's coming."

"How are we getting him there? The trains aren't running right now? Are we stealing a car?" Kise asked.

"No, dumb blonde. We called a cab," said Kagami.

"Oh. Good thinking. And I'm not a dumb blonde!"

"Just shut up, Kise," said Aomine. They reached the front entrance and hurried outside, but nearly crashed into someone trying to enter at the same time they were trying to step outside. "Hey, watch it!"

"Oh? Mine-chin? And Kise-chin?"

"Murasakibara!"

"What are you doing here?"

"Aka-chin told me to come, so I did," said Murasakibara. "He said to come play basketball."

"Eh, what?" Aomine was confused. "Your school's coming here too?"

"No. Just me."

"But that, no nevermind. It's not important now," said Aomine, stepping past him.

"Sorry, but we've got to run, Murasakicchi," said Kise. "It's an emergency! Kurokocchi needs to go to the hospital!"

"Huh? What's wrong with Kuro-chin?"

"He's sick, with a horrible fever," said Midorima. "I thought you said the cab was here, Kagami."

"It must have been the one Murasakibara here arrived in that I saw, I guess ours is still coming," said Kagami.

"Aka-chin didn't say anything about Kuro-chin being sick," said Murasakibara. He sounded a little lost but trailed behind them as they made their way down the front steps.

"Not even Akashi knows everything, despite what he believes," said Midorima. "And this is obviously a new development."

"Is Kuro-chin going to be okay?"

"Yes, but only after we take him to the hospital," said Midorima. "Don't get in the way, Murasakibara."

"I'm not in the way."

"Keep it that way."

The cab that Midorima ordered came shortly after. He'd had the forsight to request a van type cab rather than a regular four door sedan type one, so they were all able to fit inside. Aomine buckled Kuroko into the seat between himself and Midorima. Kuroko was still unconscious, and slumped forward against his seatbelt until Aomine put an arm around him and pulled Kuroko so that he was leaning against him. Midorima placed an ice pack behind Kuroko's head, where it met his neck. Kuroko gave another small moan and shivered in his sleep.

"Shh," Aomine said and patted Kuroko's head.

Kuroko opened his eyes and blinked rapidly. "Ogi . . . wara-kun?"

"Huh? No, it's me. Aomine."

Kuroko blinked again. "Shige?"

"No. Aomine."

Kuroko stared at Aomine with tears in his eyes. "Wanted . . . to apologize. So sorry. I ruined everything."

"I'm Aomine. And I doubt you've done anything that bad in your life, Tetsu, so stop apologizing."

"Broke promise . . . hurt you . . . all my fault . . ." Kuroko's eyes shut again and he slumped back into unconsciousness.

"What was that all about?" Kise wondered.

"No idea," Aomine said. "Any of you have any idea?"

"None," Mirodima said.

"I don't know any Ogiwara or Shige," said Murasakibara.

"What about you, Kagamicchi?" Kise asked.

"No. I've never heard those names before."

"Ogiwara Shige . . . That sounds familiar. Why do I feel like I've heard that name before?" Midorima asked.

"Could Tetsu have mentioned him once?" wondered Aomine.

"Was Kuroko more open about talking about his problems back in Teiko?" asked Kagami.

"Uh, no."

Murasakibara reached from the backseat to pat Kuroko on the head. "I wonder what happened between them."

I don't think Kurokocchi is capable of hurting someone that much. But he sounded like he thought he did," said Kise.

"Well, you know how Tetsu is. He takes responsibility for things that he'd be better staying out of sometimes," said Aomine. "I'm sure whatever happened wasn't his fault. And probably wasn't as bad as he was making it sound there."

"His fever is high enough that delusions are likely," Midorima said.

"All the same, if this person is troubling Kuro-chin, I'll hunt him down and crush him," Murasakibara stated.

Aomine gave Murasakibara a look over his shoulder. "Get in line."

* * *

I've gotten couple requests for this to be a GoM reconciliation fic, so I'm trying that out. And don't worry, Kuro-chin will get better soon. But Ogiwara-kun won't be appearing in this fic. If you want to read about him, he'll be showing up soon in my other fic How Does It Feel?

Please review!


	8. Chapter 8

Thank you to: rara890, tangmo, ruda102, Sakihinata, BlackAndWhiteRoseWolf, xXxPhantomxXx, sparklybutterfly42, TomAndJerry, Moonfeather, KitsuneNaru, Wings of Galileo, and the Guest who reviewed!

* * *

When they arrived at the hospital where Midorima's father worked, Midorima ran on ahead to contact his father. By the time the others arrived, Kuroko cradled in Aomine's arms once again (even though Murasakibara wanted to be the one to carry him) Dr. Midorima was ready for them with a gurney waiting.

"Put him down here, Aomine-kun," Dr. Midorima requested, and when Aomine complied, he quickly pulled the railings around the gurney's sides up so Kuroko wouldn't roll off while they were transporting him. "Good. We'll take it from here. You boys wait in the second floor waiting room. I'll let you know as soon as there's news."

"Thank you, Father," said Midorima gruffly, and then led his friends to the waiting room.

"I wish we could have gone with Kuro-chin," Murasakibara commented as they walked.

"Don't be ridiculous. You'd only be in the way there," said Midorima.

"I'm not in the way."

"But you would be! Do you know how to lower someone's fever when it's as dangerously high as Kuroko's is? No! So just wait out here and let the professionals do their job!" said Midorima angrily.

"Easy, Midorimacchi," said Kise. "Murasakicchi just meant he wished he could be there for his friend."

"Then he should have said it in a non-idiotic way," said Midorima.

"I did. Mido-chin is the one who's too silly to understand right."

"What?" demanded Midorima.

"Hey, do one of you have a phone I can borrow?" asked Kagami. "I left mine in the room. I think I better call coach now and tell her what's going on, so she doesn't think you guys kidnapped Kuroko again."

Midorima started to hand over his phone then stopped. "What do you mean again?"

"Well the last time Kuroko went majorly missing and we were all looking for him, it was because the dumb blonde here kidnapped him while we were eating," said Kagami, snatching Midorima's phone.

"So mean! Stop calling me a dumb blonde!" wailed Kise. "And I didn't kidnap him! He came willingly!"

"Saying it like that just makes it sound worse," said Kagami. "What are you going to say next? That you lured him with promises of candy and ice cream?"

"Hey! That's not fair! You're making me sound like some kind of pervert!" Kise cried.

"That's what you get for trying to steal Kuroko away to Kaijou!"

"Huh? Kise did what?" Aomine asked, looking on with some interest, albeit annoyed interest.

"He showed up at our practice and tried to convince Kuroko to switch schools, in front of our whole team," said Kagami.

Aomine scowled. "What the hell, Kise?"

"I said I was sorry!"

"That's breaking the rules of our oath, you know, Kise-chin," said Murasakibara. "Aka-chin would not approve."

"He rejected me, so it doesn't matter anymore," said Kise with a pout. "And I wasn't doing it because I wanted to cheat. I just wanted to play on the same team as Kurokocchi! We were best friends in middle school, closer than anyone else!"

"Ha," Aomine snorted.

"Kise-chin is delusional," said Murasakibara.

"If you're going to tell a lie, at least make it a believable one," said Midorima.

"What?" demanded Kise.

"Tetsu and I were best friends in middle school. You were the annoying, self-invited third wheel," said Aomine.

"Not true! Not true! Don't believe them, Kagamicchi!"

"Dude, I heard Kuroko himself say that you two were no closer than anyone else in middle school," said Kagami. "Come to think of it, you started crying then too."

Kagami went outside to call Riko, as Kise slumped down into one of the waiting room chairs to sulk. When he came back, Kise was still sulking.

"How did that go?" asked Midorima, when Kagami returned his phone.

"Better than expected," said Kagami. "She's not really mad at us. Only a little annoyed for not waking her up to let her know before we left. She said she'll let your teams know why you're suddenly not there."

"My team's not even going to notice I'm gone," said Aomine with a laugh.

"That's nothing to be proud over."

"Practice is boring anyway."

"Not when you have a good team," said Midorima. "Which you obviously don't."

"So you say, but we beat Kise's team. And Tetsu's. And they beat you. So maybe –"

"Maybe you were too stupid to understand that's not the type of good I meant," said Midorima. "But nevermind. This is the kind of thing that if it has to be explained to someone, they don't have the capability of understanding it."

"Haha, he called you stupid," said Kise, perking up from his funk.

They squabbled for awhile. Then soon the sun began to rise. Midorima left for a few minutes and came back with coffee for them all, in an uncharacteristically generous act. Murasakibara complained that it was too bitter, which made Midorima mad, because he claimed he put an ungodly amount of sugar into the one he got for Murasakibara.

It seemed like forever, but in reality was only about an hour before Midorima's father came for them.

"Kuroko-kun's temperature has stabilized," he said. "It's still running a little high, but he's no longer in danger. We have him on antibiotics to treat the bacterial infection that was building in his throat. Did he say anything about not feeling well to any of you over the past few days?"

"No," said Aomine. "I've been with him almost the whole time. I thought he was fine, or at least getting to fine."

"He hasn't complained, but then he never does," said Kagami.

"It's unlikely that he didn't feel any pain from this," said Dr. Midorima. "In fact, he would have had to be in quite a bit of pain all day."

"That little idiot," groaned Aomine.

"That is all I can currently tell you without the permission of the patient or his parents, but we are allowing Kuroko to have visitors now. If he wishes to tell you more, that is his choice," said Dr. Midorima.

Midorima shifted, looking a little bit embarrassed. "Thank you, Father."

His father gave a smile. "I'm glad to be able to help your friends. I'm glad to see most of you together again. And to see you're making new friends."

Midorima turned red and spluttered.

"Please treat my son kindly," Dr. Midorima said before leading them to Kuroko's room. In that time his son didn't manage to find anything to say.

Kuroko was awake when they entered.

"Good morning," he said to them in a hoarse, exhausted, but still somehow polite voice.

"You are an idiot," Aomine said angrily. "If you were feeling like shit why didn't you say something?"

"I thought I would start feeling better soon," said Kuroko, looking slightly ashamed. "I didn't want to trouble anyone further. I didn't know it had gotten this bad."

"Like he said, an idiot," Kagami said, grabbing the seat closest to Kuroko and jerking it away before Kise could sit down in it. The model ended up on the floor.

"I wanted to sit there," whined Kise.

"I'm sorry for causing so much trouble," said Kuroko, staring at his lap. "Thank you for taking care of me. All of you."

"If you're thankful then take better care of yourself," said Midorima. "It's not like I'm telling you we mind taking care of you, or that you're troublesome, but we would all prefer to see you well."

"Kuro-chin looks much better now than he did when I arrived. I'm glad," said Murasakibara, reaching out to pat Kuroko on top of the head in his usual greeting.

"Murasakibara-kun. It's good to see you again," said Kuroko. He didn't look extremely happy about being petted like a dog, but didn't say anything or slap the hand away for once, probably on account of how guilty he felt about what had happened. He only had to endure the treatment for a few seconds anyway before Kagami took care of the problem for him, slapping Murasakibara's hand aside.

"Stop that! He's not a dog!"

"Hm? If he was then wouldn't you be scared of him?"

"What?" demanded Kagami.

"Muro-chin told me how you are scared of dogs. So if Kuro-chin was a dog, that would be bad for you, wouldn't it?" said Murasakibara.

"Is that true? You're scared of dogs, Kagami?" laughed Aomine.

"Hey, shut up! How did the conversation turn out like this?"

This was nice, Aomine thought as the conversation turned into banter. It was familiar, like a memory he could only just recall. A good memory. This was how things used to be.

I missed this, he thought, watching as Kise climbed onto the bed so he could hug Kuroko like a teddy bear, and Kagami tried to throttle him for it, while Midorima just shook his head and commented on all their immaturity, and Murasakibara slipped Kuroko a piece of vanilla toffee on the sly. Okay, so Kagami hadn't been around when things were like this before, but this still felt right.

Then Aomine noticed Kuroko was watching him. The poor boy looked tired, but made an expression that Aomine could read more easily than any line from a book.

Are you alright?

Aomine gave a small nod and tried to smile.

Guilt clouded Kuroko's expression next, and that look's meaning was clear too.

Am I what made you sad all of a sudden?

Aomine shook his head no, because he wasn't sad, and this definitely wasn't Kuroko's fault.

The next look Kuroko sent his way would have been a blank stare to most people, but Aomine could see the smile in his best friend's eyes. This look didn't have any specific meaning, the way the others had. It wasn't words that Kuroko was conveying with it. It was feelings. Incidentally, they were the same ones that Aomine had right at that moment, and he knew it. They could still meet on the same wave length. It seemed like he and Kuroko hadn't drifted as far apart as he'd thought.

* * *

Coming up next chapter:

The Red King says off with their heads! (Not in so many words, but the meaning is the same.)

Please review!


	9. Chapter 9

Thanks to: YamiAkane97, CatVi, Rangerapprentice, Honeydee, Vuurvlieg, sparklybutterfly42, CrimsonQueen24, SadisticPrincess13, Sakihinata, and BlackAndWhiteRoseWolf for reviewing!

* * *

Kise, Midorima, and Kagami left after breakfast to catch a train back to camp, all of them with obvious reluctance. Murasakibara decided to stay behind at the hospital. Aomine never even considered leaving.

Kuroko did seem much better. He was alert, even if he did seem tired and sick. He spoke coherently, and took his medicines without complaint. Midorima's father, Kuroko explained when Aomine asked, had put him on some antibiotics to fight the infection in the back of his throat, that had started because the tissue in it had been eroded away too much.

Kuroko looked shamefaced when he told Aomine that, while Murasakibara was out getting breakfast.

"You didn't know," Aomine said, because he couldn't call Kuroko stupid or yell at him with he was looking at him with those eyes.

"I feel very stupid," Kuroko admitted, staring into his lap.

"Your school's the one at fault. They should have covered eating disorders earlier. Then you'd have known. Hell, your coach is the one who's really at fault, forcing you to eat that much."

"Please don't blame her," said Kuroko quickly. "She had no idea what I was doing."

"She should have," Aomine grumbled. "She should have realized it was stupid to make you eat that much."

"I should have spoken with her."

"You shouldn't have had to."

"It's not her fault," Kuroko said stubbornly. "She's a good coach."

"She's a stupid high school student."

"She's led our team to Interhigh two years consecutively," Kuroko said. "The first year we only had six people on our team, all of them freshman. This year we have more people, but still have no seniors, and we're going to win Winter Cup."

"No, you're not. The only one who can beat me is me."

Kuroko gave him a look.

It made Aomine feel like pounding his head against a wall.

Not being a jerk was hard. Some friend he was, sitting in his best friend's hospital room, telling him pointless things that he knew would just upset him. Aomine struggled to think of something to change the subject and quickly.

"Who's Ogiwara Shige?" he asked suddenly, remembering what Kuroko had said the night before. Maybe he could help Kuroko with this. Maybe . . .

But no, Kuroko looked like he'd been slapped. This was evidently the wrong subject to switch to.

"Wh-what?" Kuroko asked.

"Uh, sorry. Maybe it's none of my business."

"You don't know . . . so how do you know that name?" asked Kuroko, staring at Aomine with . . . was that anger in his usually placid eyes? Aomine saw hurt in them too, he thought, but there was definitely something else there too.

"Are you alright?" Aomine asked. "Is this guy giving you trouble or something?"

"No. He . . . has nothing to do with anything anymore." Kuroko suddenly looked sad. "I haven't seen him in a long time."

"Who is he?"

"No one, to you," said Kuroko.

"But he's someone to you," Aomine pressed. "If he's doing something to upset you –"

"He's not. He and I no longer speak," Kuroko said. "I'm tired. I think I should go back to sleep."

Now Aomine felt even worse.

"Alright. I'm sorry I brought this up. But you know, Tetsu, if there's something you need help with, or someone you need help dealing with –"

"I know who I can turn to for help," Kuroko said.

And it wouldn't be you.

Kuroko didn't say that. He probably didn't even consciously think it. But Aomine heard it anyway. He grimaced. When did everything go so wrong?

But he knew. Things started going to hell when he let them. When he got fed up after his talents bloomed, and he left everyone else so far behind, it looked like they'd never catch up. He'd started doing whatever the hell he wanted, without any regard for what it was doing to his team, his friends. Then everything had fallen apart.

How different would things be if he hadn't lost hope? Aomine wondered but couldn't find an answer. Would they all still have gone to different schools? Or would they have all stuck together and taken the high school basketball scene by storm? That would have felt like a repeat of middle school . . . maybe it was better they had gone their own ways. Except . . . it would have been nice for some of them to stick together. He and Tetsu especially. Best friends were supposed to stay together, right?

Well, Kuroko certainly wouldn't be here, in the hospital, sick from an infection caused by becoming borderline bulimic. Aomine would have prevented that at least. Should have prevented it.

"You don't have to stay."

It was Aomine's turn to look like he'd been slapped. Kuroko saw this and quickly amended.

"I'm just going to sleep. It's going to be boring. You should get breakfast with Murasakibara-kun. Or . . . find something to read."

"I'd rather stay with you," Aomine said. "I think I'll nap here. I didn't get much sleep last night either."

"Sorry." Kuroko bowed his head.

Aomine reached out to mess up his hair, even though Kuroko's bedhead was already horrific. He figured he couldn't make it any worse. "It's fine. We'll both get some rest now. Hopefully you'll be feeling even better when you wake up."

* * *

Aomine was most certainly not feeling better when he awoke. Because when Aomine woke up, Akashi was in the room. And Akashi was reading Kuroko's medical charts. And Akashi looked absolutely murderous.

Aomine gulped, and too late realized that small noise was enough to attract the tyrant's attention. Heterochromic eyes zeroed in on Aomine, taking in his anxiety and guilt as they peered straight into his soul.

"Daiki," Akashi said, almost pleasantly. "Good morning. Or perhaps I should say, good afternoon. Since it is, now 12:03, thus technically afternoon."

"A-Akashi. What are you doing here?" Aomine asked, trying not to sound as nervous as he felt.

"Atsushi saw fit to send me a message, alerting me as to Tetsuya's condition," Akashi said, far too calmly. "I wonder why no one else thought to do so."

"Maybe because it wasn't really your business," Aomine said, hoping he sounded tougher than he thought he did.

Akashi's eyes narrowed. "I beg your pardon?"

"You haven't seen him since graduation, have you?" Aomine pointed out. "Since before that, actually. Since he disappeared after our third championship, right? So why would any of us call you?"

"Perhaps because he was a member of _my_ team. Or because something this serious merits telling the people capable of doing something about it." Akashi looked livid. "How much about this did you know, Daiki?"

He waved Kuroko's medical charts, clutched in a white knuckled hand.

"Are you supposed to be reading those? Isn't there some kind of confidentiality law?"

"They were on the clipboard at the foot of the bed," Akashi said in a dismissive tone. 'And that is not the issue here. Tell me, Daiki. _How much did you know?"_

Aomine sighed. "Akashi, it's not as bad as you think."

_"Bulimia,_ Daiki!" Akashi hissed, casting a glance at the still sleeping Kuroko. "This is _life threatening!_ Are you still so far gone in your selfish haze that you cannot care about that, or are you just too stupid to know what it means?"

"I know what it means! And I'm telling you, it's not as bad as you think! Let me explain, alright already?" Aomine said angrily, but like Akashi he kept his voice low.

"Very well. Explain. Now."

"Tetsu's not actually bulimic. He wasn't trying to lose weight, or throwing up out of anxiety, or anything like that. His meal portions at training camp were too big for him, and the only solution he could see for how to finish them was to throw up midway through the meal," said Aomine. "He didn't know how dangerous what he was doing was. When I found out, I yelled at him for it and scared some sense into him. And he stopped, immediately. That was like half a week ago. He hadn't thrown up again since until last night, when he got sick from this infection."

"You know that just because he was informed about the dangers –"

"Doesn't mean he wasn't affected by the mental aspects of the disorder. Yes. I know. I've been keeping an eye on him," said Aomine. "Believe me, he was fine. He hadn't been doing it long enough for him to actually get the disorder."

Akashi calmed a little, as he realized Kuroko's life wasn't in eminent danger. He took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were much less wild. "Well, that is something, at least. Tell me, how did you learn about this problem of his? You've never been a particularly observant sort."

Aomine felt like he was ratting the others out, but if he didn't tell Akashi would just get mad and find out anyway, and they would all suffer for it. "Midorima's teammate was the one who realized it first. Shutoku's Number Ten. I think his name's Takai –"

"Takao," corrected Akashi.

Aomine shrugged. "He was the one who realized. He didn't think he was the best person to help Kuroko, since he barely knows him, so he went to Midorima and I."

"So Shintarou knew of this too?"

"Yeah. But no one else, that we know of. All of Seirin's in the dark. So's Kise, and Murasakibara just got here, so there's no way he could of known."

Akashi replaced the medical charts on the clipboard at the foot of Kuroko's bed, looking thoughtful. "Seirin's coach and I are due for a talk."

"Don't," Aomine heard himself say.

Akashi's eyes flashed. "I beg your pardon."

"I'm pissed about what happened too, but going to her and tearing her apart isn't the right way to handle this, and you know it," said Aomine. "You think Tetsu's really going to be okay if word about this gets out? Why do you think Midorima and I didn't go give that chick a talking to? Because we wanted to make this better, not worse."

"It's gotten worse on its own."

"No. It's getting better," insisted Aomine. "Yesterday, before this infection gave him a fever, he looked healthy again. He was almost better. This is just a minor setback. This time next week, he's going to be perfectly fine."

"You sound very certain of yourself for someone whose wasted most of the past two years sleeping the days away," Akashi said. "Tell me, what woke you up?"

Aomine frowned and looked at Kuroko. "You know what woke me up."

"I'll hear you say it anyway. If you want to convince anyone of anything, Daiki, you must tell them and not just assume they know," said Akashi. "Even if you know full well they already know."

Aomine glared at Akashi now. "Realizing that he was killing himself woke me up. And has made me start wondering something."

"Something?"

"I know what we won," Aomine said. "But now I'm wondering if it was worth what we lost."

"Lost?" Akashi asked. "We were the victors. We did not lose."

"Fine. If you want to squabble over semantics, then was it worth what we misplaced? What we had to leave behind?" demanded Aomine. "When did so many other important things stop mattering?"

"That is a question you must answer for yourself," Akashi said. "As for me, nothing is more important than victory. That which is not needed will be left behind."

"Bullshit."

"I beg –"

"You can beg my pardon as much as you want, Akashi, but it doesn't change the fact that you're here, right now, because you were worried about Tetsu too," said Aomine. "And this doesn't contribute to victory in any way, shape, or form. If anything, you're lowering your chances of winning by coming here to see a _friend_, when you could be practicing with your team."

"Not so."

"It is so."

"It is not."

"Is too!"

"What's going on?"

Akashi and Aomine both froze and immediately stopped their bickering to look at Kuroko, who was rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Akashi-kun? What are you doing here?"

"I was passing through Tokyo on family business," Akashi said smoothly. Or more like lied smoothly.

"Which doesn't explain why you chose to come here," Aomine needled him and earned himself a glare.

"I understand, Tetsuya, that you were on the verge of a very serious illness," said Akashi.

Kuroko's eyes flitted to Aomine, trying to determine what Akashi had been told.

"Yes," he said simply.

"Daiki claims he has been taking good care of you, but has allowed this to happen," said Akashi, motioning toward all the machinery in the room, probably to indicate the hospital itself.

"That's not right," said Kuroko. "Aomine-kun saved me from my own foolishness. I did this to myself before he got involved. It just took some time for this consequence to show itself. I'm . . . sorry to trouble everyone and cause worry."

Aomine stood and moved to Kuroko's bed, sitting down beside him. "Stop being sorry already. Are you feeling any better, at least?"

"Yes. I think the antibiotics are working," Kuroko said, reaching for the button to elevate the back of his bed, so he could sit up. Sleep and sickness made him clumsy, so Aomine reached over and hit it for him.

"That's good. Think you can manage to keep something down now? We missed lunch. And we skipped breakfast too, now that I think about it. Should I see if I can get something for you?"

"I . . ." Kuroko paused and seemed to be trying to decide what the right answer was. "I'm not hungry. I'm sorry."

Aomine frowned, but said, "It's fine. Your appetite will come back once you've beaten this infection, I'm sure. And maybe after you're awake for a few hours you'll be hungry."

"You should go get a meal, Aomine-kun," Kuroko said. "I don't want you going hungry and getting sick because of me."

"Atsushi is on his way back, with a vanilla milkshake for Tetsuya, and teriyaki burgers for you," Akashi said. "And so you know, Shintarou, and Ryouta will be returning this evening, as soon as their training has ended for the day. They will be bringing Momoi. And possibly a few other hanger ons."

"Let me guess. That annoying Kagami's coming," sighed Aomine.

"Ryouta did mention a Kagamicchi who intends to come, and Shintarou says that Takao intends to as well."

"Great. That's going to make it even more annoying than a regular middle school reunion," said Aomine, but didn't really feel annoyed about it. Somehow it just seemed like just another step on the path back to where they'd once been. He'd wait and see how it went before complaining.

* * *

Phew! Akashi's hard to write at this point in the overall storyline. Hopefully I didn't get him too OOC.

Next time: The long awaited GoM reunion! With a few hanger ons. Because the GoM don't annoy each other enough when it's just them, haha

Please review!


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